


New Server

by LirilaiNatural



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 03:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7204709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LirilaiNatural/pseuds/LirilaiNatural
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p>From the prompt on Tumblr "I eat at the same restaurant at the same booth every week and suddenly you're my new server what"<br/><br/><br/>So I realised I've only uploaded one story this year and woops I am so sorry D=<br/>I've got like 3 fics on the go at the moment and I just never find any drive to finish them ugh<br/><br/>This is one I wrote a while back though, it was quite fun to do tbh so I hope you guys like it =]</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	New Server

Dean flopped into his usual booth at the restaurant. He loved this place, it was always just on the right side of quiet to be homely but not creepy, and for the most part it was always the same people who were there.

He'd almost developed a friends group at this place. 

It helped that Ellen was practically a mother to him and Jo was his adopted little sister. Not literally, but she may as well have been. 

Ash was a good guy too, he'd helped Dean a few times when Dean's computer had been on the fritz. A couple of hours in Ash's capable hands and it was working better than a brand new laptop! 

That says everything about the guy who spends half his time asleep on the pool table so drunk he can't remember his own name. 

After hours, of course. Right now he was in the kitchen cooking up culinary wonders. 

Dean fell out of his musings as a menu was placed in front of him, he looked up with a grin expecting to see Pamela but his smile faltered as a guy with messy dark hair and eyes so blue they looked like they'd held the sky to ransom. 

"You're not Pam," Dean blurted out before he could think, blushing slightly as the guy's gaze narrowed. 

"No, I'm not," the guy tilted his head as if he was assessing Dean, "Pamela left due to unwanted attention from one of the patrons and I took her place last Friday." 

"Oh," Dean said dumbly, blinking in shock, "Pamela's been getting harassed? And Ellen hasn't kicked the guy's ass?" 

"Apparently. Can I take your order?" 

Dean blinked again at the guy's clipped tone, "uh, yeah, a coke and burger, tell Ash it's for Dean, he'll know." 

"Okay." The guy scribbled a note and picked up the menu, walking away without a backward glance even though Dean enjoyed the view. 

Wait... Dean started slightly as he realised the guy must've thought Dean was the one giving Pamela the unwanted attention, oh god. 

Dean was fully resolved to tell the guy when he came back with his drink, but instead the coke slid in front of him as Jo flopped into the other side of the booth with a grin, "heya bro!"

"Hey Jo," Dean grinned and forgot about the weird guy, "how's things?" 

"Weird with Mr. Grumpy over there instead of Pam, he hardly talks to anyone. And god getting a smile out of him is like getting blood from a stone." 

Dean snorted, "you lot are pretty intimidating though, hell I'd hardly say 'boo' to you or your mom if I didn't practically grow up in your living room!" 

Jo snorted and punched Dean's arm from across the table, calling him an idiot as she stood again to go serve her table as they smiled and waved at her to go over. 

Dean busied himself with his phone till a plate appeared in the corner of his vision, he turned his best smile to the guy with messy hair and scowl to thank him, gently tapping the table for a second, "you don't think it was me that was hitting on Pam, do you?" 

That head tilt and narrowed eyes again, "I assume it's everyone until she tells me otherwise." 

Dean pulled a face in agreement, "yeah I can see that logic, I guess it wouldn't work if I told you I wouldn't dream of it? Well... That's kinda a lie but I'd never do it to make her uncomfortable." 

The guy's eyes narrowed more, "sure, because that makes you sound completely innocent." 

"Hey," Dean held up his hands, "I admit I flirted with Pam, but only when she did it first. I adore that gal. Just ask her." 

The guy sniffed and stalked away, Dean felt like his efforts were definitely wasted. 

Dean was distracted by Ellen crowding him suddenly and demanding to know where he got off by coming into her bar without giving her a hug. Dean laughed and stood to hug her properly, seeing Cas eyeing him warily from the back of the restaurant where he was standing and watching for the other tables he was serving. 

Dean almost felt like he was having his soul examined and found lacking by the level of intensity thrown his way by the new guy. When Ellen had got her fill of gossip from Dean's week while he ate his fries she left him to finish his lunch before the second rush started. 

Cas had mysteriously disappeared until it came to Dean paying, where he left his usual $5 tip and smiled again at the unfriendly face in front of him. 

"Seriously, ask Pam, and if you can find out who it was that was leeching on her tell me and I'll help you hide the body." 

Dean almost swore he saw the guy's lips twitch slightly as he nodded, collecting Dean's plate and glass before retreating to the bar with the money and tip. Dean watched as he got scolded for asking where the tip jar was and told that any tips he earned were his, and his alone. 

The look of surprise on this face almost enough to make Dean laugh but he caught himself before Ellen glared at him and just waved his goodbye. Glancing at his receipt to see the guy's name. 

_"Your server was Castiel, thanks and see you again!"_

Castiel, well that was a new one. Dean resolved to not judge till he got to know the guy. 

\------ 

Tuesday rolled around again and Dean strolled through the door to the Roadhouse, catching Ellen in a hug as she walked past to avoid a telling off this week, making her laugh when he voiced as such and earning him a swat to his arm as she continued on her way. 

Jo and Ash waved at him from the kitchen area as he moved to his usual booth, finding his way partially blocked by an awkward looking Castiel. 

"Hey, how are-" Dean's question was cut off when Castiel threw his arms around Dean and squeezed him then stepped back staring at Dean, who was stood awkwardly staring back. 

"That's from Pamela, I'm sorry that I thought you were the one who drove her away." 

Dean laughed and waved away the apology, "it's fine man, how are you?" 

"I'm good, thank you. Same as last week?" 

"Damn right," Dean grinned as he fell into his booth and Castiel nodded and moved away from him. 

Dean laughed at the confused look Jo shot him and shrugged. 

When Castiel brought him his coke he actually hovered for a moment before asking to sit with Dean, Dean smiled and waved his hand into the space in front of him, Castiel sat stiffly and leant forwards onto his arms. 

"Pamela wouldn't tell me who it was that made her leave, I'm going to need help figuring out who it was. I don't think Ellen will appreciate me being hostile to everyone in her bar until Pamela tells me." 

Dean almost snorted coke out his nose, "no, I can guarantee that won't be a good idea. I know a lot of the people in here from today, but I only come once a week these days. So if it was a day that I don't normally show up then I won't be much help." 

"She wouldn't even tell me which day it was on that he came in," Castiel sighed and glanced down at the table, Dean suddenly felt like he could breathe again now that the blue eyes weren't trained on his own. 

"We'll figure it out man, don't worry." Dean reached across and squeezed Castiel's arm, the other man seemed to jump slightly and his eyes snapped back to Dean's then flicked to the side where he saw Ash waving at him for Dean's burger being ready. 

"That was quick," Cas mumbled with a frown and the head tilt that Dean was beginning to find increasingly adorable. 

"Ash saw me come in, he's not magic. Well, he might be. Who knows how that guy gets computers working so well when they were dead before he looked at them." Dean felt his chest swell with pride at the twitch of lips again as Castiel stood to retrieve his food, carefully placing it in front of Dean and asking if there was anything else he could get him. 

Dean shook his head as he popped a fry into his mouth and grinned as he swallowed it, Castiel gulped slightly then walked away rather stiffly. 

\------ 

"So I compiled a list." Dean blinked at Cas as he slid into the booth opposite him and slid a piece of paper over to him along with a glass of coke. Dean took a drink and ran his eyes over the list, Cas' handwriting was incredibly neat. 

"Okay, well three of these guys you can cross off here 'cos Pam isn't their area," Dean waved for Castiel's pen and struck lines through the names, "these two are so happily married that it makes me sick," Dean crossed off another two names, "but these three? Potentials, mainly 'cos I've no clue really who they are." Dean tapped Cas' pen against his lip and Cas cleared his throat, Dean glanced up with the pen still against his lip and Cas blushed while looking at the pen. 

"Oh, shit sorry man, I forgot this pen wasn't mine. Be glad I didn't start sucking on it." Dean wiped the pen on his jeans and gave it back to Castiel with a smile and a wink, Cas gave him a small, shaky smile in response and took the pen back slowly. 

"I'll keep an eye on them." Cas promised as he got up to distribute menus to another group who sat down in his area. 

Dean watched Castiel pull a fake smile onto his face as he served the group of guys two booths over, watching as a flicker of something passed his face too quick for the other table to notice at something one of them said before the whole table erupted in raucous laughter. 

"One burger ala death-by-grease!" Jo sang as she plonked a plate full of fries and one of Ash's speciality burgers down in front of Dean, as usual with extra bacon and onion rings just for him. 

"Thanks Jo," Dean grinned and tried to turn his attention to her, keeping half an eye on Cas as the guys seemed to be making him edgy, "how's things?" Jo updated Dean on the week, Dean finally relaxing when Cas finally got away from the table and over to the kitchen to place the order for the four guys a booth away from him. 

"Hellooooo! Earth to Dean!" Jo waved her hand in front of Dean's face and he jumped, "did you hear a word of that?" 

"Uh... Yes?" Jo scoffed and glared at Dean, "sorry, Jo, but Cas didn't seem all that comfortable with those guys and I was making sure that he was okay." 

Jo narrowed her eyes and span in her seat to look at the table of guys, "yeah those guys are new. They're doing some building work for one of the houses on the edge of town and come in nearly every day. They always seem to sit on this side of the place." 

"They don't give Cas trouble do they?" 

Jo pulled a face and shrugged, "he never mentions it if they do." Dean hummed a response as Jo told him again what had happened that week. 

\------ 

"Woah, Cas, what the hell?!" Dean said as he gently took Castiel's shoulder, a bruise sporting his right cheek as Dean carefully tilted Cas' head to look at it. 

"It's nothing, Ellen dealt with them." Cas shrugged and looked anywhere but at Dean's face. 

"Was it those asshole builders?" Cas nodded, "I'm gonna kick their asses." Castiel finally glanced at Dean, even if the look on his face was confused, "Is this all they did?" 

"They look worse than me, don't worry. But yes, this is the only blow they managed to get in." 

"All four of them?" Dean blinked in surprise. 

"I'm tougher than I look, Dean." There was the usual glare that Dean had come to know (and maybe love a little bit). Dean raised his hands in surrender and followed Cas to his usual booth, "besides, Ellen told them they weren't welcome in here any more after they tried to gang up on me in an alley." 

"Why'd they do it though?" 

"Probably because I'm gay and told them as such when they were being disgusting towards Joanna-Beth and I refused to join in. They wanted a reason so I advised them I was gay and that even if I wasn't that behaviour was disgusting and it would be appreciated if they stopped it." 

"They WHAT?" Dean had stood back up and looked like he was ready to storm out of The Roadhouse and lay into the builders, until Cas put his hand on Dean's shoulder and squeezed it gently. 

"I threw enough punches for the both of us, I'm sure. It's done, Dean." 

Dean sat back down heavily while grumbling under his breath as Cas left to get his coke and Jo slid into the booth opposite him. 

"So Cas is a knight in shining armour, you should get Ash to show you the security footage of him kicking the asses of those guys. Oh and I think he has a crush on you." 

Dean choked on the breath he took to greet her and she grinned as Cas reappeared looking very confused. Damn that head tilt, "anyways, back to work for me!" Jo winked at Dean and skipped away from his booth. 

"I'm sensing awkwardness," Castiel said as he sat down opposite Dean with a wince. 

"Yeah, Jo likes doing that to people," Dean narrowed his eyes, "I thought you said they only landed the blow in your face?" Cas jumped slightly in guilt and cringed again. 

"Okay, so one got in a kick to my ribs. I'm alright though, it's just a bruise." 

"Damnit Cas, why'd you go up against them on your own?" 

"I didn't really have a choice, Dean, considering they jumped me in an alley." Cas said hotly as he glared again, "besides, it's not like I could have rung you to come help me." 

Dean scowled, signalled for Cas' pen and grabbed his hand at the same time and scribbled his number onto the back of Cas' hand when he finally got hold of the pen, "there, now you can. It'll make this trying to figure out who got Pam to leave thing easier too." 

Cas blinked at the numbers on his skin and nodded dumbly, moving to put the number into his phone and collect Dean's burger. 

Jo skipped past the table, "oh he definitely has a crush on you." 

Dean flipped her the birdie as Cas put his burger in front of him and frowned at Dean swearing at Jo, Dean shrugged it away and thanked Castiel with a smile while he started to eat his food. 

\------ 

_"Wednesday is a day off, right?"_

_"Yes."_

_"We need a better attack than chatting for a few mins in the roadhouse. Text me your address. I'll pick you up. We'll go get coffee and plot."_

Castiel stared at the text and blinked, he tapped out a quick reply and shifted his gaze to the mirror he was brushing his teeth facing, his hair stuck up all over the place as he'd not slept well the night before. He looked tired. 

The bruise he'd got from those builders was not helping.

He frowned at himself as he jumped when the reply came back with _"give me 10 mins."_ and blinked again at the screen. 

Dean was gonna kill him. 

\------ 

When Dean arrived Cas was waiting on the steps to his apartment block for him rather than making Dean get out to knock on the door, he'd attempted to brush his hair into some semblance of order and seemed to only make it worse. 

Dean's sleek, shining, black car rumbled to the curb and Castiel ran a curious eye over it, he'd seen it plenty of times before now but had never been inside it, he'd wondered about what it was like to drive in considering the noise it made when it started up in the Roadhouse's parking lot. 

Castiel stood up and jumped down the last few steps as Dean threw open the door for him with a grin, Cas felt his mouth curve into a smile back and almost shocked himself out of the response before Dean had a chance to say hello. 

Though Dean did ruin it by his 'hello' being "nice bed head, Cas." the response to which was Castiel frowning instead of smiling and valiantly trying (and failing) to tame his hair by combing his fingers through it. 

When Cas was finally sat in the car, after giving up trying to neaten his hair, Dean raised an eyebrow in amusement at the glare now aimed at his car's glovebox, "so, Cas, what's your poison?" 

Cas' glare turned into a confused frown and he turned to look at Dean, "um... I thought you said coffee?" 

"Well sure, but that's my choice, if you want something else we can find a café for whatever." 

Castiel blinked and tilted his head while looking at Dean, he must've stared for longer than he realised while he thought because Dean squirmed slightly while trying to look like he wasn't doing so. 

"Like, I dunno, you look like the kind of weirdo who likes green teas or whatever, so we can find somewhere that does both or-" 

"There is nothing wrong with the healing benefits of green tea, Dean." 

Dean paused and blinked at Cas, then burst out laughing at the overly serious glare Castiel was giving him, the corner of Cas' mouth quirked into a smile again as Dean called him an asshat and pulled the car away from the curb. 

The car was amazing to ride in. 

Castiel voiced as much in quiet surprise and Dean actually looked offended, "dude, why wouldn't Baby be amazing to ride in? She's been through the wars and still come out swinging, if this old gal had anything less than a perfectly smooth roll I'd... Well I'd fix her in a heartbeat!" 

"I just had the wonder because of how she sounds." 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Castiel glanced at Dean and saw his face set in a glare, though his eyes sparkled with amusement so he let some of the tension that had appeared at Dean's clipped tone bleed from his shoulders. 

"Well, she's not the... Ah... Quietest of women." 

Dean cracked up laughing again and Cas let the small smile slip back to his face. 

"Nah, a beauty this great deserves an audience and Baby demands all the eyes she can get." Dean ran his hands lovingly over the steering wheel and Cas had to look away, staring at a point slightly above Dean's head, "and can you blame her?" Cas shook his head hurriedly as Dean glanced at him with a proud smile, "besides, this is only in the city, you should hear her when she's on a long stretch with nothing separating her from the open roads. Man it sounds like heaven listening to her purr." 

"I feel like this is indeed an experience." 

"Damn right it is. And it's one I'll definitely introduce you to!" Dean replied triumphantly as he parked in a space by a coffee shop. 

The two of them got out and made their way inside, despite his earlier comments Cas ordered a coffee like Dean did, though his had milk and sugar added liberally, and they settled down on a table at the back of the store. 

Dean produced a small notepad from his jacket and dropped it on the table, putting a pen on top of it and sliding it to Cas with the instruction to write down everyone who'd been weird about Pam leaving. 

Cas reached for the notebook and winced as his ribs twinged, he saw Dean's leg tense and glanced at him while pretending to not be looking as he settled to write in the book while still leaning over the table. 

Dean's face had set into an angry glare as he turned his head to look out the window, Cas carefully followed his line of sight and saw nothing out of the ordinary so frowned slightly at what could have made Dean look like that. 

"I'm sure the window hasn't done anything untowards, Dean." 

Dean jerked slightly and looked at Cas with surprise, seeing his head bowed over the table and wondering how he knew Dean was glaring at nothing, the pen scribbling away as he wrote, "maybe not, but those builders are asshats." 

"So you've said, it's taken care of, Dean." 

"Yeah but how much did they really rough you up, Cas?" 

Castiel sighed and winced again, he glared up at Dean slightly but the glare lost it's force when Cas saw the angry concern on Dean's face, he glanced around the store to see how busy it was and with it being fairly empty stood up carefully then turned and raised his shirt so Dean could see the bruise along one side of his ribcage. 

Dean sucked in a breath and Cas saw his hands twitch in his lap as if he was about to reach towards him, Dean stared at the bruise and the concern quickly overrode the anger that was there. 

"Fuck, Cas, have you got that checked out?" 

"It's all superficial Dean, don't worry. Ellen made sure and declared that I didn't need a doctor." Cas let his shirt drop and sat down slowly, picking the pen up again and adding a couple more names before leaning back in his chair and wrapping both hands around his coffee mug as he blew on it and took a sip, finding it to still be quite hot. 

He realised with surprise that Dean's was already almost half gone, even though he hadn't seen him take a drink yet, and Dean followed his gaze and grinned when Cas tilted his head in confusion. 

"Gotta drink it hot, man, what's the point otherwise?" Dean plucked the mug from the table and took a swig, grinning as Castiel cringed. 

"I like my tastebuds not being burned from my tongue, thank you. That's probably why I can appreciate the subtleties of tea and you can't." 

Dean laughed at Cas' lip twitch and agreed, though said he still wasn't gonna be swayed into drinking the stuff as he downed the last of his drink. 

\------ 

_"Dean, those builders are back. Ellen said to text you and stay in the back. She said bring Bobby."_

_"Give us five minutes."_

Dean and Bobby walked through the door to the Roadhouse to encounter the backs of the four builders faced with a livid looking Ellen. 

Of course, unless you knew her she looked perfectly calm, but Bobby and Dean raised their eyebrows at each other before opening the doors. 

"What in the blazes d'yah think you're doin' here, boys?" Bobby said loudly, his gruff accent making the builder on the left start and glance over his shoulder nervously, he was sporting a very dark black eye and the guy on the middle right seemed to be favouring his left side a lot. 

"Hey boys," Ellen said brightly, "fancy ridding this place of a nasty stink?" Dean was glancing around for the others, Jo and Ash were peering from the serving hatch, Ash with his arm around Jo's shoulders, partly to hold her back, partly in comfort, and Dean could see Castiel hovering in the doorway obviously itching to be closer as backup for Ellen. 

"You heard the lady," Dean growled, "out." 

"Or what, pretty boy?" the guy next to the one who'd jumped turned and ran his eyes up and down Dean, showing a split lip and a hand in a bandage, "you gonna break a nail trying to get me?" 

Dean flicked his eyes to Ellen and she barely moved her head in a nod before Dean landed a punch straight to the guy's nose then grabbed his shirt with his other hand, holding him at an awkward angle so the guy's balance was offset, "no, but I'm gonna break every bone in your body if you don't get the hell out of here right now." Dean shoved him backwards with force to punctuate his sentence. 

The others in the group caught him, barely, and the guy was now holding his nose in shock as it bled down his front as the others were watched warily. Castiel had moved a few steps closer and looked ready to jump on the nearest guy if they started anything. 

With a curse the guy on the right aimed a clumsy, off balance punch at Dean, who noticed his other arm was in a sling as he easily ducked under the flailing limb while Bobby used the guy's momentum to swing him into the back of the door. 

Unfortunately the doors only opened inwards, so suddenly there was nowhere for the guy to go. Except straight into the door. 

"That's a pull door, just so y'know," Ellen said with a slight smile as the other three gaped at Dean and Bobby, "now git before they stop behaving for the sake of the ladies in the room." 

One of the two who had been supporting the one with the bloody nose quickly helped their fallen comrade up as the other two wrestled with the door and quickly left. 

Bobby turned to Dean, "good punch, son, nice an' clean for them gals to be able to witness." 

"Not so bad a move yourself there, old man, though I'm not sure where the 'ladies' Mrs Harvell was referring to are." Dean and Bobby shook each other's hands formally before cracking up laughing and leaning on each other as Ellen rolled her eyes with her hands on her hips but smiled at them. 

"My heroes, now get over here, Dean, so I can check that hand of yours." 

Dean obediently held out his hand and Cas was surprised to see a towel wrapped around it already, Ellen unwound it to find that Dean's hand was completely fine and she patted it once before giving him a kiss on the cheek and then hugging Bobby tightly. 

Cas moved to Dean's side as Bobby promised Ellen that he'd stick around for the rest of the day and glanced at Dean's hand, "clever. A good punch too." 

"Well I dunno what that guy had, and I wouldn't wanna catch it!" Dean grinned as Jo passed him a drink in thanks, moving to Bobby with the other, "and I know how to throw a punch. And take one." 

Cas bristled, "if you mean this," and gestured to his cheek, "I wasn-" 

"Hey, woah, Cas," Dean raised his hands with a sincere expression, "I meant him. He clearly hasn't ever actually ever been punched and just used his gusto to bully people into being scared of him. You obviously weren't lying when you said they were in worse shape than you." 

"Hmm," Cas narrowed his eyes and Dean didn't lower his hands, but he did grin, "fine. Well it's a good job you and Bobby don't scare easily then." 

"I've ground more tough bugs below my heel than those four idjits," Bobby grumbled as he took a swig from the beer Jo had passed him and squeezed her to his side, she looked slightly shaken still though she was doing her best to hide it. 

"Want me to stick around too?" Dean asked as he helped Ellen set the chairs the small fight had knocked down back on their feet. 

"Nah, you git back to the shop, I can hold the fort. I'm pretty sure Ellen's rifle still works." Jo and Dean laughed as Ellen hit bobby with a towel saying 'don't you dare Robert Singer, you've done enough damage with that!', Castiel glanced between them all and shook his head with a small smile as Dean explained that Bobby was a crack shot, but when they did up the Roadhouse a few years back Bobby thought it would be quicker and easier (see: funnier) to use Ellen's rifle to blast holes in the walls before knocking them the rest of the way down. 

Without telling Ellen first. 

Ellen hit Dean with the towel too when he said it was 'fucking hilarious'. 

Bobby grinned and winked at Cas, Castiel chuckled as Bobby saluted Ellen with his beer when she glared at him again and took another drink as Jo moved away to hug Dean tightly and get on with serving people. She squeezed Cas' arm when he quietly asked if she was okay and nodded with a smile. 

Bobby and Ellen moved over to the bar so Bobby could sit and chat to Ash as Dean turned to Cas, "hey, will you need a lift home after work?" Dean asked gently, "Bobby will probably insist on staying the night to make sure Ellen and Jo are okay but I can swing by with Baby and make sure you get home okay if you want?" 

Castiel looked slightly surprised, "I would appreciate that, Dean, yes. Thank you." 

"Any time, Cas," Dean smiled and clapped a hand to Cas' shoulder, squeezing it slightly before handing his empty beer bottle back to him and telling him to 'go earn his damn wages,' Castiel huffed out a laugh and moved away as Dean called out his goodbyes and made his way back to Bobby's garage. 

\------ 

Dean pulled up to the Roadhouse to Cas sat by the front door looking vaguely amused. He put the Impala into park and got out, raising his eyebrow as he leant on her roof while Cas stood to move closer. 

"Apparently, we got those builders fired. The contractor came by asking what had happened, and when Ellen told him that she'd sue him if they set foot in her bar again they got removed and sent to another job a state over." 

Dean laughed and said that sounded just like Ellen, then climbed into the car again to let Castiel in. 

"Any new contenders?" Dean asked as they pulled out of the parking lot. Cas jumped but shook his head. Dean frowned at his reaction but Castiel just shrugged with one shoulder and turned to look out the window, "hey, when's your next day off?" 

"Uh, Sunday, why?" 

"Thought I'd swing by and pick you up, then we can plot a bit in the comfort of my apartment." Dean glanced at Cas for a second, "if you want to, that is. We can spread out bits of paper and stuff that way and not get in the way of people." 

Castiel snorted a laugh as he remembered spreading out on the coffee table with all their scribbled on bits of paper on and getting unimpressed looks from the barristers when they refilled their drinks after an hour of taking up a lot of space. 

"That may be wise, yes." 

Dean smiled and Cas couldn't help but smile back, he watched Dean's profile out of the corner of his eye as Dean drove and marvelled at how relaxed Dean was behind the wheel to his car, Cas realised suddenly that he'd not seen him that relaxed anywhere else. 

"You enjoy driving." Castiel blurted out by accident, blushing slightly and being thankful for the darkness inside the car even with the street lamps outside. 

Dean blinked at him but shrugged, "yeah, we moved around a lot when we were kids, this thing is the closest place I've had to a home so I guess I just feel comfortable sitting in my Baby. Not many places I'd rather be, y'know?" 

Castiel nodded his head in a way that he hoped showed Dean that what he said made sense, and when he glanced at Dean again he saw him turn away from him with a small smile on his face. 

Cas smiled to himself until Dean dropped him off at the stairs to his apartments, waving as he walked up the driveway, and the smile only widened when he realised Dean waited for him to get inside the main building before driving away. 

Not that Dean saw the smile of course. 

Or that Castiel saw the smile Dean had on his face as he turned away after waving. 

\------ 

The two days to Sunday rolled by quickly, thankfully with no more assaults from the four builders and by closing time on Saturday Ellen had finally relaxed enough to actually do the things she was meant to be doing instead of patrolling the front of house like a caged animal. Namely stocktaking and paperwork. 

Cas had been warned to stay away from the office unless he was dying. 

He didn't actually think Jo was kidding, either. 

Castiel had managed to actually gel his hair into a more behaved style before Dean got to his apartment this time, he heard the buzzer go off and jumped up to let Dean know he was on his way down. 

Dean smiled broadly as Cas came down the drive and waved before moving to the passenger side of Dean's car. 

"So, I thought first port of call would be the shop for snacks, then we'll get on with our plotting." 

Cas blinked at Dean, only half through the car door, "snacks?" 

"Well, snacks and actual food, if we're gonna be at this all day we're gonna need to keep our strength up!" 

Castiel was glad Dean got into the Impala as he spoke because of the blush that turned the tops of his ears red. 

After they'd stocked up on chips, soda and beer, (and pizza for later) Dean drove Cas to his apartment and they quickly got set up in his living room, Dean cleared space on his floor and set out piles of paper and pens to make lists and guesses as to who Pam might have encountered and when. 

By the time they'd been working for an hour Dean had already had three (what Castiel thought to be) mental break downs because Cas had never seen Star Wars, or Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings ("seriously Cas, you're killing me here!") and Dean was trying to convice him to take a break to AT LEAST watch one Indiana Jones movie. 

Castiel looked around the mess they'd made in Dean's living room and realised none of it was going anywhere, and when he grudgingly admitted that Dean whooped in triumph and packed things into piles before getting them both a beer and putting the first film on. 

They got through two before Dean put pizza on. 

Then through the third before Castiel grudgingly reminded Dean that he had work the next day and Dean resolved to finish their education further on in the week as long as they made headway with their 'investigation'. 

\------ 

_"Your place or mine?"_

_"Mine, we won't get distracted by films that way."_

_"Are you telling me you didn't enjoy Indy?!"_

_"I never said that."_

_"I knew it! :D be there in 10."_

Castiel sighed and dug in his cupboards for something to act as host with. 

When Dean arrived he'd brought coke and sandwiches with him, so Cas needn't have worried, but he had managed to get a bowl of pretzels and some salt n' vinegar chip sticks which Dean pulled a face at but still ended up eating a lot of. 

"How." Castiel asked as he watched Dean absent mindedly pick at the snacks, Dean glanced at him with a pretzel half way to his mouth and looked so confused that Castiel laughed loudly, when he recovered Dean's face was split in a huge smile and he was looking at Cas like he'd just seen the night sky full of stars for the first time. 

Castiel blushed slightly and coughed, "how are you so thin if you do this all the time?" Cas waved at the snacks and made Dean realise how much he'd been eating of them. 

"Uh... I hadn't even realised how much I'd eaten man, sorry, you shoulda told me to leave you some. Or some more ha, but, uh, I work out a lot, and the garage doesn't exactly leave allowances for getting pudgey. Bobby only gets away with it 'cos he makes me do all the lifting. Tell him that I said that and I hope you understand you'll be in charge of writing my eulogy." 

Castiel snorted out another laugh and promised not to tell. He also noticed Dean seemed to think more before just eating the snacks. For about five minutes. 

"Seriously, Cas, you need to get better at gathering intel, man. Why don't you let me do it?" 

"Because then Ellen would cotton on if you're there more than one day a week and it would be obvious. I'm still not entirely sure Ellen knows the real reason Pamela left," Castiel said without looking at Dean, as if they'd had the argument a hundred times. 

They might have, Cas had given up counting. Dean huffed and glared at the reduced pile of 'case files' of their suspects. They'd successfully crossed a couple more people off their list, but nothing that helped them to get closer to who the perp ("Dean please stop calling them that. This isn't a 'procedural cop show' like you keep saying.") was. 

"Yeah well, we'd make shitty cops if it was." Dean scrubbed his hand over his face and glanced at his watch, "we've been at this two hours, man I need a break." 

Castiel nodded absent mindedly and Dean just watched him sort through the piles of paper for a few minutes with a soft smile before shaking himself slightly then standing and stretching. He moved to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water, bringing one back into the living room for Cas who blinked at it when Dean put it next to his knee. 

"Uh... Thank you?" 

"Well I was getting a drink so..." Dean waved the thanks away vaguely and smiled, Cas felt his mouth turn into a smile in response and almost thought he saw Dean blush. But it was just a trick of the light. Obviously. 

\------ 

"It's been over a month, Cas, how can we have not figured it out by now?" Dean groaned as he dropped his head back against his chair and rubbed his hands over his eyes. 

The two of them were sat in Dean's apartment and staring at more bits of paper with people and their characteristics on. 

Castiel sighed and stretched in his seat, Dean eyed him through his fingers as Cas groaned slightly at his back clicking and let his arms drop back down, "I don't know, Dean. But I just can't place who it could have been. Jo and Ellen don't think that it happened, and Pamela is being increasingly edgy on the topic by just changing the topic." 

"Do you think there was another reason she left?" Dean sat up suddenly and stared at Cas, "like really, man, she's just found a better job and decided to leave but didn't want to admit it in that way so...?" 

Castiel tilted his head and frowned slightly, staring at Dean as he did, "but surely she'd know that Ellen would be fine with that as a reason for leaving?" Dean groaned and dropped his head onto the table, Cas' frown softened slightly, "I know, it is a puzzle." 

"You're telling me. We've been at this for too long. I don't think we're ever gonna work it out." 

Dean stood to get them both a beer, taking a long drink while Cas took a delicate sip and licked the drop away from the top of the bottle, Dean turned away to hide his blush and busied himself by getting some snacks. 

"Well, it's Ash's birthday party next weekend, so maybe we can figure it out there. Look for any guys who are being overly creepy towards any of the women there." 

Cas made a strange sound, "yeah," he sounded slightly strangled, "yeah that sounds like a good idea." 

"Hey, you okay Cas?" Cas nodded but didn't look at Dean as he sat back down at the table, "talk to me." 

Castiel studiously avoided Dean's eyes, "um, promise not to judge me?" 

Dean blinked, "uh... okay?" 

Cas coughed and blushed, "well, uh," he ducked his head more and traced a nail along the patterns on Dean's table, "Pamela didn't leave because she was being harassed. I panicked and told you that because I didn't know what else to say." 

Dean frowned, "what?" 

Cas ducked his head even further and squeezed his eyes shut, the hand on the table curling into a tight ball, "I, uh, I panicked because you're really attractive, and I don't do well with expressing myself when it comes to that, so I told you Pamela had been bullied away to get you to possibly try and 'help' me so I could spend time with you, and it worked, and now I feel awful because she's fine, she left because she found somewhere better and Ellen knows that, and I... I hugged you to make you think it was from her because I knew she'd say to do that because she mentioned you a couple of times and said you were a nice person and she did say to say hi from her and... What are you doing??" 

Dean had bent his head to rest on his arm on top of the table with a groan. Dean was also shaking slightly as Castiel sat very bemused in his chair and finally stared at Dean rather than the table. Or rather the top of Dean's head. 

"Dean...?" 

"Really? You couldn't have just acted like a normal person and like accidentally blurted out that I'm 'really attractive' instead of making me do this for two months?" Dean lifted his head, his face betraying the serious tone his voice had taken by being split by a huge smile. 

Cas blushed and smiled, laughing slightly in relief before shrugging, "one and a half, but I guess I don't really do normal." 

"No, you really don't," Dean chuckled and shook his head. He watched Castiel carefully before standing up and moving around the table to stand at Cas' side. Dean folded his arms and let his eyes search Cas' face, Cas watched him warily and licked his bottom lip nervously as Dean leant down, his eyes tracing the movement.

Dean leant one hand on the table and the other on the chair behind Cas' shoulder, boxing him in from one side but making sure to leave space for Cas to get away if he wanted to, "do I make you nervous, Cas?" 

Cas gulped and nodded slightly, flicking his eyes to Dean's lips before staring into Dean's eyes again and feeling slightly lightheaded being this close to him. Dean hovered for a few more seconds before slowly leaning in further and kissing Cas gently, Cas gasped and pulled away in surprise, making Dean laugh again as Castiel frowned. 

"Sorry, I... Sorry. Wait, you want...?" 

"Yeah, Cas," Dean smiled softly, "I want to. Only if you want to though." 

Cas blinked then moved forwards quickly, catching Deans lips in another kiss. This time no one pulled away.


End file.
